The Earth's atmosphere contains carbon dioxide, which is beneficial for life on Earth – in moderation. Plants use CO2 As a source of carbon, they are incorporated into leaves and wood through photosynthesis. Combined with CO water vapor2 isolates the Earth, preventing it from turning into a frozen world. Life as we know it on Earth would not exist without CO2 in the atmosphere.
However, since the Industrial Revolution began, humans have been adding more and more carbon dioxide to the Earth's atmosphere, and this has become a problem.
Atmospheric CO concentration2 has grew by more than 50% since industry began burning coal and other fossil fuels in the late 1700s, reaching concentrations not seen in Earth's atmosphere for at least a million years. And concentration continues to grow.
Excess CO2 contributes to global warming
Who cares? Everyone should.
More CO2 in the air means an increase in temperature at the Earth's surface. As the temperature rises, The water cycle is acceleratingleading to new floods and droughts. Glaciers melt and warmer ocean water expands, raising sea levels.
We live with increase in frequency or intensity forest fires, heat waves, floods and hurricanes affected by increased CO emissions2 concentrations in the atmosphere.
The ocean also absorbs some of this CO2.2making water increasingly sourwhich could harm species critical to the marine food chain.
Where does this extra CO2 come from?
Largest source of additional CO2 It is the burning of fossil fuels—oil, natural gas, and coal—to power vehicles, generate electricity, and produce industry. Each of these fuels is made up of hydrocarbons created by plants that have grown on Earth over the last few hundred million years.
These plants absorbed CO2 outside the planet's atmosphere, died, and their biomass was buried in water and sediment.
Today, humans are reversing hundreds of millions of years of carbon accumulation by extracting these fuels from the Earth and burning them for energy.
Let's dig a little deeper.
Where do US CO2 emissions come from?
The Environmental Protection Agency has tracked US greenhouse gas emissions for many years.
USA radiate 5.053 million metric tons CO2 into the atmosphere in 2022, the last year for which a complete emissions inventory is available. We also emit other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, including methane from natural gas production and livestock farming, and nitrous oxide, produced when microbes digest nitrogen fertilizers. But carbon dioxide makes up about 80% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
Of these 5053 million tons of CO2 93% of US emissions in 2022 will come from burning fossil fuels.
More specifically: about 35% CO2 emissions came from transportation, 30% from electricity generation, and 16%, 7%, and 5% from fossil fuel consumption of industrial, residential, and commercial buildings, respectively. Electricity generation served industrial, residential and commercial buildings approximately equally.
What fossil fuels are burned?
Transport is dominated by petroleum products or petroleum – think of gasoline and diesel fuel.
Across the country, power plants use roughly equal shares of coal and natural gas. The use of natural gas in this sector is increasing while coal is decreasing, a trend driven by the rapid expansion of the shale gas industry in the United States.
US forests are being cut down CO2 from the atmosphere, but not fast enough to offset human emissions. US forests removed and stored about 920 million tons of CO2 in 2022.
How CO2 emissions have changed in the US
US emissions peaked around 2005 at 6.217 million metric tons of CO2. Since then, emissions have been falling slowly, mainly due to the replacement of coal with natural gas in electricity generation.
Some additional notable trends will impact the future:
First, the US economy become more energy efficient over time, increasing productivity while reducing emissions.
Secondly, solar and wind energy production, although a modest share of total energy production, has been growing steadily in recent years and practically does not emit CO2 into the atmosphere. If a country increasingly relies on renewable energy and reduces the burning of fossil fuels, it will dramatically reduce CO2 emissions.2 emissions.
Solar and wind energy became cheaper as a new energy source than natural gas and coalbut the Trump administration reduction in federal support for renewable energy and doubles fossil fuel subsidies. growth of data centers Electricity demand is also expected to increase. How the US meets this demand will affect CO emissions nationally2 emissions in future years.
Compare US emissions to global levels
The US ranked second in CO2 emissions worldwide in 2022 after China, which emitted about 12,000 million metric tons of CO.2. Annual CO emissions in China2 emissions exceeded US emissions in 2005 or 2006.
However, over time the US has emitted more CO2.2 into the atmosphere than any other nationand we still emit more CO2 per person than in most other industrialized countries. Emissions from China and Europe account for about half of those in the United States. emissions per capita.
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are distributed evenly across the globe, so emissions from industrialized countries affect the climate in developing countries that have benefited very little from the energy generated by burning fossil fuels.
Conclusion
The US is seeing some promising trends towards reducing CO emissions.2 emissions and renewable energy growth trends, but political winds and rising energy demands threaten progress in reducing emissions.
Reducing emissions across all sectors is necessary to slow and ultimately stop the rise in atmospheric CO emissions.2 concentration. The world has the technological means to significantly reduce emissions. CO2 released into the atmosphere today lingers in the atmosphere for hundreds and thousands of years. The decisions we make today will affect the Earth's climate for a very long time.
This article has been republished from Talka nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trusted analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. He was written by: Kenneth J. Davis, Penn State
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Kenneth J. Davis does not work for, consult for, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations other than his academic position.
